Known Issues
Installation fails if path contains double-byte characters
When installing Lotus Symphony into a target path which contains double-byte characters
and the characters encoding does not match the operating system's language
settings on windows, installation fails and rolls back, which is a
limitation of the third party tool. It is documented
here: http://bugs.sun.com/bugdatabase/view_bug.do?bug_id=4947220.
Workaround:
Set operating system language the same as the double-byte
characters contained in target path.
File type association may be changed after first launch Symphony
As a standard user, after launching Lotus Symphony for the first time, the ODF
file format association will be changed to Lotus Symphony itself on Ubuntu and
SUSE. This is not the expected behavior for the user who has installed both
Lotus Notes and Lotus Symphony, and the user expects the Lotus Symphony
embedded in Lotus Notes to be associated with ODF files.
Workaround:
Configure the file association in Notes preference page again.
Opening documents by dragging is not supported on Mac
On Mac, a document cannot be opened by dragging it to the home page in Symphony.
SmartSuite files cannot be opened in Lotus Symphony
SmartSuite documents are not supported by Lotus Symphony
Limitations of Symphony VBA support
Currently, we can support some VBA Excel APIs, Events, Form control APIs and
Events. But we still have some limitations:
Cannot support all of the
VBA APIs and events currently. We support most of common control APIs and events: CheckBox, ComboBox,
CommandButton, Frame, Label, ListBox, OptionButton, SpinButton, TextBox,
ToggleButton, UserForm, etc. Support some APIs and events of MultiPage. The
following control APIs and events are not supported currently: Image, Checkbox
List, RefEdit, ScrollBar, TabStrip, TreeView, etc.
We support most of frequently-used Excel VBA APIs: Application, Global,
Workbooks, Workbook, Sheets, Worksheets, Worksheet, Range, Window, Names, Name,
Font, Validation, Borders, ChartObjects, Dialog, Dialogs, Format,
FormatCondition, FormatConditions, HPageBreak, HPageBreaks, Interior,
OLEObject, Outline, PageSetup, PivotCache, PivotTable, Shape, ShapeRange,
Shapes, Styles, Tab, VPageBreak, VPageBreaks, WorksheetFunction, Constants,
XlMousePointer, Button, GroupBox, ColorFormat, FillFormat, LineFormat,
PictureFormat, etc. But the following APIs are not supported currently: AddIn,
AddIns, Border, PivotField, PivotItem, AutoFilter, etc.
For Excel VBA events, we support partial events, such as: Worksheet_Activate,
Worksheet_BeforeDoubleClick, Worksheet_BeforeRightClick, Worksheet_Change,
Worksheet_Deactivate, Worksheet_SelectionChange, Workbook_Activate,
Workbook_Deactivate, Workbook_Open, Workbook_SheetActivate, etc.
- Lotus Symphony allows you to edit the VBA codes in Symphony BASIC IDE, but
can't save the changed VBA codes.
- Syntax interoperability issues with Excel VBA syntax, for example:
We do not support: if Not a = "Hello" then
We support: if a <> "Hello" then
We do not support: DoEvent: DoEvent
Note: Multiple VBA commands are not allowed to be placed in one line separated
with colon.
Please see the detailed information of Symphony VBA interoperability from the
link:
http://download.boulder.ibm.com/ibmdl/pub/software/dw/lotus/Symphony/vbaapi3/ind
ex.html
Digital signature is not supported on Mac platform
On Mac platform, Lotus Symphony has no response when clicking File->Digital signature.
Cannot copy cell formula from Symphony Spreadsheet to MS Excel
When copying a Spreadsheet cell formula from Lotus Symphony to MS Excel, it's not the formula but the formula value that copies to Excel.
Graphics with text cannot be copied to other applications
In Lotus Symphony SpreadSheet document, inserting a graphic and inputting text
into it, and then copying the graphic to another editor, or to Lotus Notes, the
text inside the graphic might be lost.
Pictures cannot be inserted into custom shape
In Lotus Symphony, pictures are not allowed to be inserted into custom
shape. Therefore, when opening a Microsoft Word document, the picture
inside custom shape will get lost.
Change on master page can't apply to normal page for .pptx file
When editing a file in PowerPoint 2007 Document Format (PPTX), any
change made to outline style does not reflect on screen, no matter when
you are in master view or normal view.
Workaround:
By setting character style as Default Formatting, the modification
made to outline style in master page will take effect in normal view,
though it still seems to kept unchanged in the master view.
Spellcheck does not support user dictionaries for some languages
Spell check does not support the user dictionaries of the following language versions:
- Group1:Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese and Korean
- Group2:Thai, Turkish and Hebrew
- Group3:Bulgarian, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Slovenian, Ukrainian and Icelandic
"Reversing Path Direction" is not supported for animation effect
"Reversing Path Direction" is an attribute for the 'Motion Paths'
animation effects in Microsoft PowerPoint. This attribute is not
supported in Lotus Symphony Presentations; The path will not be
reversed if this attribute is set to 'True'.
Save unsupported document type may cause data loss
Unsupported document types can be opened by altering their
extensions, but this can cause data loss when the file is saved back.
For example, changing a .HTML file into a .SXW file and opening it may
result in the document content being lost when subsequently saving the
file.
Symphony crashes when working with edit menu on print dialog
Lotus Symphony crashes when working with edit menu on the print dialog. Such as
Clicking "File->Print" to launch print dialog, and then clicking the "PDF"
button in the bottom left corner of the dialog and select "Edit Menu". Clicking
"+" button, and then clicking "Cancel" in "Open" dialog, Lotus Symphony is
frozen.
After restart, another Symphony icon shown on the dock
User can drag the Lotus Symphony icon to the dock in order to launch Lotus
Symphony by clicking it. In this case, after Lotus Symphony is restarted, there
will be another icon displayed on the dock.
The Package For The Web utility only supports English
The first unpack progress dialog from PFTW (Package For The Web) utility does
not support translation, so it always keeps in English.
Hyphenation does not work in Lotus Symphony
In Lotus Symphony, hyphenation does not work
Duplicate formatting does not work well in some scenarios
In Lotus Symphony, continuous duplicate formatting does not work
well on text in the text box by double-clicking the Duplicate
Formatting icon on the toolbar. Sometimes duplicate formatting might
not work well in cell editing mode in a spreadsheet.
Cannot access menu by keyboard when focusing on Help on Mac
On Mac platform, when moving focus to Help->Search in main menu bar, user
cannot access the main menu by keyboard.
Workaround:
To use mouse to access main menu.
Much memory is used when opening file with many fontwork objects
If there are many fontwork objects in a document, a lot of memory is allocated
because a large number of polygon objects are created.
Workaround:
Try to remove some fontwork objects from the document.
Cannot load pictures linked by HTTP protocol
When loading pictures that are linked by HTTP protocol in the following scenarios, the pictures might not be displayed.
- Copy one picture from a Web page by pressing Ctrl+C, and paste the contents
to Lotus Symphony applications. The picture cannot be displayed. Workaround:
Right-click the picture and select Copy Image from the context menu.
- Load a document that contains a picture linked to a HTTP location, the
picture cannot be displayed.
Workaround:
Use the local image file instead of linking to external Web pages.
Files on network-share are opened in read-only mode on Mac OS
When opening a file on a network-share (smb://server/share) on Mac OS, Lotus
Symphony loads it in read-only mode and prompts the following error message:
"This document is already opened in other applications. Lotus Symphony will
load it as read-only mode with the same file name." Click OK to view the file
in read-only mode, or click Cancel to close it. Workaround:
Copy the file from the network-share to your local workstation, and then open
it with Lotus Symphony.
Some hotkeys don't work on Mac OS X system
The following shortcut keys do not work because of the conflict between Lotus
Symphony and Mac OS X system.
- Cmd+H Align text to center
- Shift+F10 Context menu
- Shift+F11 Show style list dialog
- Shift+F12 Start a bullet list
Workaround:
The functions can be accessed through main menu or context menu.
Cannot drag document to the Home page to open it
You cannot open a document in Lotus Symphony by dragging it to the Home page on Mac OS X.
Workaround:
Drag the file to the Lotus Symphony icon on Application list, or to the New
button, or to the empty tab in Lotus Symphony to open.
ODF file association is overwritten
If ODF(.odt, .ott, .ods, .ots, .odp, and .otp) or OO1.0(.sxw, .sxi, .sxc, .stw,
.sti, .stc) file types are selected to associate with Lotus Symphony during
Lotus Symphony installation,these associations are overwritten on Windows
platforms when you install Lotus Notes 8. If you want to change the
association, consult your system administrator. The following gives one
possible way to change the association of certain file extensions:
- On Windows Explorer, right-click a file with the extension for which you
want to change association, and click Open With.
- On the Open With dialog box, click the program that you want to use to open
the file, or click Browse to choose the program on a disk.
- Select the check box Always use the selected program to open this kind of file.
If ODF(.odt, .ott, .ods, .ots, .odp, and .otp) or OO1.0(.sxw, .sxi, .sxc, .stw,
.sti, .stc) file types are not selected to associate with Lotus Symphony during
Lotus Symphony installation, you can add or remove file associations on
preference page.
Some bullets might not be displayed under Linux and Mac
On Linux and Mac platforms, some bullets cannot be displayed correctly on the
Numbering and Bullets window or in document area because of the insufficient
fonts installed in operating system.
Workaround:
Install all the language packages, then all the bullets can be displayed
correctly.
UI labels may be truncated with an ellipsis at the end
UI labels might be truncated with an ellipsis (...) at the end. The workaround
is to hover your mouse over the truncated label text, and the full text will be
displayed as a hover tip
UI language changes with OS locale on Mac and Linux
On Linux and Mac, if the UI language setting is not changed from Preferences,
the UI language will be the same as the OS locale.
TOC hyperlink in MS Word document doesn't work in Symphony
When an MS Word document with a TOC is opened by Lotus Symphony, the TOC
hyperlink doesn't work as expected.
Workaround:
Select TOC and launch context menu, select Update Index/Table. The TOC
hyperlink will be enabled.
Document with revision record may display incorrectly
Open a MS Word document in Lotus Symphony. If there are revision records on
floating objects, such as graphics, shapes, textboxes and so on, the document
might not display correctly.
Chart is improperly refreshed if delete a column from data range
Create a new spreadsheet, and input data in a cell range. Select the cell range
and create a chart. When you delete a column which is in the data range of the
chart, the chart is improperly refreshed and the deleted column is still in the
chart.
Workaround:
- Double-click the chart to enter the chart edit mode.
- Right-click the chart and select Data Ranges.
- Re-select the data range from the "Data range" picker and click OK.
Failed to jump to the right content in TOC
You cannot jump to the right content in TOC when paragraphs with the same
contents apply the same outline level and numbering style.
Formatting is not retained when refresh data in DataPilot
You cannot define the formats in a Data Pilot Table. After you set, the format
returns to the default layout when data is refreshed.
Previous preference settings cannot be migrated when upgrade
Personal user data, such as preference settings, cannot be kept and migrated
when upgrading from previous Lotus Symphony releases;Location of the User
data storage:
- Windows: %USERPROFILE%\IBM\Lotus\Symphony
- Linux: $USER/.lotus/symphony
- Mac: ~/Library/Application Support/Lotus Symphony Data
It's recommended to backup user data and delete default user data
before upgrading. If you need to roll back to Symphony 1.x, you must
restore with the backup user data.
You cannot install multi-releases of Lotus Symphony on the same machine
by default. If you want to install multiple releases on a same Windows machine,
please refer to the following instruction: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lswiki.nsf/dx/08212009062500AMWEBE8P.htm.
Limitation: When clicking the shortcut icon of Lotus Symphony, double-clicking
a file or using Open With to open a file in Lotus Symphony, the latest
installed release will be launched. To open a file with previous Lotus
Symphony versions, you need drag the file to the main window of the previous
Symphony which is launched by clicking %Symphony_Install_Path%\symphony.exe.
Pinning is not supported on Windows 7
Pinning either Lotus Symphony process or icons is not supported on Windows 7
Spell check limitation in Spreadsheet
Using spell check dialog to check texts in drawing objects and comments are not
supported in Lotus Spreadsheet.
Excel wildcard support in formula in Spreadsheet
Lotus Symphony can open and edit Excel file which has formula with wildcard.
But there are some limitations.
- Save a Excel file which has formula with wildcard as *.ods format and then
reopen it, the related formula result will be different.
- Save *.ods file which has formula with regular expressions to MS Excel file
format, and then open the saved Excel file, the related formula result will be
different. There are no way to translate the regular expression to wildcard, a
warning message is expected.
Crash might happen when comparing a document with special contents
Lotus Symphony Document might crash when performing the following steps:
- Create a new document using Lotus Symphony Document
- Select Tools > Compare Document
- In the new Create File window, select one document which contains charts
created based on a table.
- Lotus Symphony Document might crash
In some rare cases error occurs when upgrading on windows
In some rare cases, IBM Lotus Symphony might fail to upgrade from previous release, the error prompts "provisioning_rc not found" or "RCP Base Plug_in not found".
The reason is that: User Data or files of IBM Lotus Symphony are corrupted or locked by other programs.
Workaround:
Uninstall previous IBM Lotus Symphony, and then install the new release again. Please also ignore any error messages during the uninstallation process.
Excel wildcard support in formula in Spreadsheet
Lotus Symphony supports regular expressions in formula, while MS Excel supports wildcard in formula. Please refer to http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lswiki.nsf/dx/Wild_card_and_regular_expression_in_Symphony_Spreadsheet for how to handle Excel file which contains formulas with wildcard.
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